Microsoft, which sort of invented the idea of being a famous software company, has been an extraordinarily successful one. And being President of Microsoft for decades turns out to have been one of the best ways in the late 20th/early 21st century to become, as former Microsoft President/CEO Steve Ballmer‘s son Pete Ballmer says, “globally and historically rich.”
Pete, not yet 30, recently fessed up to his global and historical wealth issues in a candid chat with Jane Zhang for Business Insider. Growing up in his enviable predicament, Pete Ballmer felt some shame, made do with a less-than-great lacrosse stick, and generally tried to apply a set of values more in line with middle class incomes. Today, he says, he drives a 2015 Ford Focus.
[Edmunds reports the value of a used 2015 Ford Focus “ranges from $3,185 to $12,339 based on vehicle condition, mileage, and options.”]
While driving around in his Focus, Pete Ballmer does have some issues that aren’t common to Focus drivers — like what he and his brothers will do with the LA Clippers when his mother and father, who purchased the NBA franchise in 2014 for $2 billion, shuffle off this mortal coil.
But the young Ballmer can put such grim thoughts out of his mind at the next traffic light by focusing on his art, which is comedy. Ballmer performs about five nights a week, he says, at clubs and at open mics, an environment where all the money in the world can’t buy a laugh that isn’t earned.
@peteballmercomedy I’m actually wearing a large here but it exposes midriff when I raise my hands #standup #standupcomedy #bodypositivity #comedian ♬ original sound – Pete Ballmer
He’s also optimistic, it seems, by nature — no telling how much effect the loot has there. There are no bad popsicles, for instance:
Every popsicle flavor that seems like it might not be that good is actually quite good
— Pete Ballmer (@peteballmer) May 8, 2023
Pete doesn’t say whether his father attends his gigs, but Steve Ballmer would certainly look for a rise out of the crowd, as he shows below.